ISIL calls for attacks on Miss Universe pageant

Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) is calling on jihadists to attack the 2017 Miss Universe pageant.

The 2017 Miss Universe pageant will be held on Jan. 30 in the Philippines.

In a thread posted to a Telegram Messenger group called “IS Philippines supporters,” a jihadi, noting next year’s pageant, encourages “everyone who can” to launch attacks at the event. The Miss Universe contest is scheduled for Jan. 30, 2017 in the Philippines, where the pageant was last held in 1994.

The ISIL post includes a link to a downloadable video on how to assemble a suicide belt, as well as a 49-page guide in English on how to manufacture explosives.

Addressing “brothers who love martyrdom,” the post’s author calls on followers of the terrorist organization to “target the blood of foreigners” whose nations have participated in the war against ISIL.

ISIL’s leaders have long encouraged supporters to launch local attacks in their native countries if the possibility of traveling to fight in the group’s Syria and Iraq areas of control is not possible.

The pageant, which brings together women from around the world, was founded in 1952 by Pacific Knitting Mills, a California-based clothing company. Most recently, Donald Trump bought the entire stock of the Miss Universe Organization from NBC in September 2015, and after three days sold all shares to talent agency William Morris.